I haven't seen a superhero movie surprise me this much since "Ant-Man." Coming into this film with essentially little to no familiarity with the character, I have to say "Deadpool" was surprisingly entertaining. Granted, it's far from perfect, but it's arguably one of the better satires of the genre that I've seen in a good while.

Allegedly taking place within the "X-Men" cinematic universe, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a mercenary for hire, who discovers that he has various forms of cancer in his lungs, testicles and brain. With little hope of surviving, he agrees to undergo a top secret government program designed to draw out people's latent mutant abilities. After a series of life threatening tests, he becomes hideously deformed, but he ends up with the mutant ability to heal rapidly from any injury; which includes growing back limbs. Although his healing abilities do keep the cancer in his body from killing him, it doesn't seem to generate fast enough to heal his hideous facial scars; hence why he dons a mask to cover his face.

From here, the character inevitably escapes the treatment, and becomes a mercenary for hire by the name of Deadpool aka "the merc with the mouth." Unlike most superhero satires, this one features a character that not only references classic films like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", but he tends to break the fourth wall a lot.

In fact, this movie is filled with so many jokes, and fourth wall breaking moments, that you tend to question how exactly this fits in with Bryan Singer's uber serious and grounded reality based "X-Men" franchise if this is all part of the same universe. However, if you look beyond this minor nitpick, then you'll find that "Deadpool" is actually a very clever action comedy.

In one particular scene for instance, "Deadpool" mentions to the scientists experimenting on him how he doesn't want his super suit to be green or animated, which is an obvious shot at his failed superhero movie, "Green Lantern", which featured him donning a CGI animated green suit throughout various parts of the film.

Of course, there's also references to the "X-Men" franchise as well. This ranges from things like Deadpool hinting that he might've done sexual favors for Hugh Jackman just to get his own solo flick, to even asking if Colossus was dragging him to see either Patrick Stewart or James McAvoy, when it was mentioned that he was going to be dragged off to see Professor Xavier. To most fans that have been following the "X-Men" movies thus far, then it's a pretty good inside joke about the franchise. Sadly if you haven't been following the "X-Men" films, then you might not get the punchline.

In terms of it's humor though, I have to say "Deadpool" is arguably one of the funniest comedies that I've ever seen. Would I say it's the best superhero satire ever made? Definitely not, as it pales in comparison to "Birdman", or "Kick-Ass", in terms of it's overall quality. However, it's definitely the most entertaining superhero satire that I've seen. Plus, the action scenes are great.

It's been said that director, Tim Miller, used to work on video games like "Star Wars: Old Republic", and it certainly shows. The action scenes in this film are amazing. Granted, it's nowhere near the quality that you might see in an "Avengers" film, but it's still impressive nonetheless.

Sadly, the script isn't that great, when you look past it's humor and action scenes. Like most superhero origin stories, this one pretty much follows the exact same formula. Guy gets super powers that's both a blessing and curse. His girlfriend gets captured by his arch nemesis, who's often just a one dimensional stereotype. Hero has to save her, and they inevitably live happily ever after. Not only is the villain not that interesting, but his motives are never clear. If anything, he serves as nothing more than a plot device for Deadpool to fight.

However, Tim Miller and the writers seem to be okay with that. When you watch the film's opening credits, where it says crap like "Directed by some overpaid tool", to "Starring some moody teen" or whatever, then it's pretty obvious from the get go that the film doesn't take itself that seriously. And if the movie doesn't take it's own story that seriously, then why should we?

While I can't say this is the best superhero satire ever made, I will say that it's worth checking out if you're into comic book films in general. And if you've been a huge fan of the previous "X-Men" movies, then you'll probably love this one as well. It may not have that great of a script, but the humor and visual effects more than make up for it's short comings.

Also, if any of my readers are thinking of seeing this film, then I would recommend seeing it until the very end of the credits, as Deadpool shares a personal fourth wall breaking message with the audience that shouldn't be missed.